Marco Oggian

Marco, you were born and grew up in the province of Varese. What do you still remember from your childhood? As a child, what was your biggest dream?

I can say, with the most absolute sincerity, that I had a pretty common childhood. I’d play with my friends, go to school by bike and to the supermarket with my grandma, who’d always buy me a Kinder Surprise. Nothing more and nothing less than your average 90’s suburban boy’s life. As a child, my biggest dream was to become an astronaut or a service-station attendant. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to make it come true, or is there still time? (Smiles, E.D.)

That being said, what prompted you to leave your home country, pursuing a career as an artist abroad?

Simple opportunities. Anyhow, I’d like to go back to Italy and open a small studio in Milan, where my best friends live.

The eye is a recurring element in your works. What’s the meaning behind it? What do you want to communicate through your artworks?

It’s true, the eye is almost always present in my works. As you can see, it’s a still glassy eye. Basically, it’s a metaphor for the all-seeing eye that doesn’t get anything at all. A bit like the modern society, I guess. Art is my form of expression, so my aim often is to share my thoughts. I don’t want to impose anything on the viewer. On the contrary, I hope they’ll find something new or even contrasting with my initial thoughts.

How could your style be described, then? Do you think living in many different countries has influenced you?

I don’t know and I don’t feel like thinking about how it could be described either. I’d like the viewer to do so. For sure, living and traveling around the world has helped me. Anyhow, that’s not enough: if you’re not willing to travel with your mind first, getting on a lot of planes and visiting even more cities is pretty much useless.

Geometric shapes, bright colours and graphic-artistic references characterise your artworks. What’s your main source of inspiration? Is there any artist from the past that you like to refer to in your work?

My main source of inspiration is hypocrisy, to which I add bright colours and geometric figures, giving an ironic connotation to my work. I don’t know why, but for me irony is colourful. I really have fun mocking what we live every day. That being said, I think it’s obvious that I constantly pay homage to DePero and, more in general, Futurism. Which is a movement often associated with Fascism and, for that reason, often avoided or forgotten.

How would you describe the Spanish art scene, if you had to use only three words?

No lo haría (in English, ‘I wouldn’t do it’).

What’s the most stimulating part when collaborating with a company that doesn’t belong to the art world?

I was born and, most importantly, I live as an illustrator and designer. So, for me there’s not a great difference between commercial works and art commissions. I always do my best, making sure the client is satisfied. The most stimulating part? To be direct and concise, ‘cause’, glory and money (Laughs, E.D.). Of these three aspects, the one I see as the fundamental one is the cause. If the commission comes from an NGO, I don’t want to get paid, as I prefer that my fee is used for something more important than an illustration.

Marco, you’re Co-Founder of ‘Flaco Studio’, an agency specialising in Art Direction, Fashion Consulting and Entrepreneur Advising. What prompted you to embark on such an exciting yet risky adventure?

Since I was a child, I’ve always been into sports and played basketball. More so, I’ve always believed in ethical teamwork: when I win, I want my teammates to win as well and, for me, an assist is way more gratifying than a score. For that reason, I decided to open a space in the centre of A Coruña, where I can give visibility to all the artists who, just like me, really want to make their work known. Through Flaco, we give everyone the possibility of entering the art world, without ever overcoming a certain price range. After all, we don’t want to fall into arrogance, which is something quite rooted in this industry. We donate a large part of the proceedings to ‘Cocina Economica de La Coruña’, an association that provides those who don’t have any money with food and medical assistance. We don’t earn anything through the gallery, but I like it as is and this makes me happy.

You collaborated with many different companies, such as BMW, Samsung and Mozilla Firefox. What’s the project you always remember with great pleasure? How about the one that put you to the test?

Perhaps it’ll sound as a cliché, but I remember every single project with great pleasure, even those I still have to get paid for! In my opinion, it’s really important to be able to see the positive things in any situation, no matter how bad it is. You can always learn something and say: ‘With great pleasure, I won’t work with that client ever again!’ (Laughs, E.D.). I had the chance to live many beautiful experiences, from working on murals in the small Japanese town of Nasushiobara to digital campaigns for Firefox in San Francisco, passing through the interactive shows at Turin’s Graphic Days. I’m happy, because I like my job. Lastly, as for the project that put me to the text, I don’t know what to say: I did so many things, that I can’t remember that one anymore!

Going back to fashion for a moment, what do you wear on a day-to-day basis? Is your love for bright colours reflected in the way you dress?

Usually, I dress in black, wearing a crewneck sweatshirt, a T-shirt, a pair of trousers and Coverse or Air Force 1. In the summer, I opt for a white T-shirt and trousers. So, no, I wouldn’t say so: my love for bright colours isn’t reflected in the way I dress.

If you could go back in time, would you do anything differently?

No, I wouldn’t.

Marco, what would you tell someone who’d like to change their life but hasn’t found the courage to yet?

If you didn’t reflect on this and you think it’s easy to change your life, don’t do it. There already is a lot of people who believe it’s easy to reinvent yourself, and look where that got planet earth…

If you could make one wish come true, what would it be?

Owning a house with a covered basketball court. I know you were expecting a deeper ‘revelation’, but thinking about the future has caused me trouble in the past, so I don’t think about it anymore.

Lastly, what’s the question you’ve never been asked but always wanted to answer?

‘Why do you think it’d be way more fun if everyone could go out and about wearing nothing but body paint, like the Selk’Nam did?’.